The Acorn-Planter | Page 4

they would
continue to be the mothers of men.
{War Chief}
It is told of old time that there are women in
the
councils of the Sim. And is it not told that
the Sun Man will destroy
us?
{Red Cloud}
Then is the Sun Man the stronger; it may be
because
of his kindness and wiseness, and because
of his women.
{Young Brave}
Is it told that the women of the Sun are good
to the
eye, soft to the arm, and a fire in the heart
of man?
{Shaman}
_(Holding up hand solemnly.)_
It were well, lest the

young do not forget, to
repeat the old word again.
{War Chief}
_(Nodding confirmation.)_
Here, where the tale is
told.
_(Pointing to the spring.)_
Here, where the water burst from under
the heel
of the Sun Man mounting into the sky.
_(War Chief leads the way up the hillside
to the spring, and signals to
the Old Man
to begin)_
{Old Man}
When the world was in the making,
Here within the
mighty forest,
Came the Sun Man every morning.
White and
shining was the Sun Man,
Blue his eyes were as the sky-blue,

Bright his hair was as dry grass is,
Warm his eyes were as the sun is,

Fruit and flower were in his glances;
All he looked on grew and
sprouted,
As these trees we see about us,
Mightiest trees in all the
forest,
For the Sun Man looked upon them.
Where his glance fell grasses seeded,
Where his feet fell sprang
upstarting--
Buckeye woods and hazel thickets,
Berry bushes,
manzanita,
Till his pathway was a garden,
Flowing after like a river,

Laughing into bud and blossom.
There was never frost nor famine

And the Nishinam were happy,
Singing, dancing through the
seasons,
Never cold and never hungered,
When the Sun Man lived
among us.
But the foxes mean and cunning,
Hating Nishinam and all men,

Laid their snares within this forest,
Caught the Sun Man in the
morning,
With their ropes of sinew caught him,
Bound him down to
steal his wisdom
And become themselves bright Sun Men,
Warm
of glance and fruitful-footed,
Masters of the frost and famine.
Swiftly the Coyote running
Came to aid the fallen Sun Man,

Swiftly killed the cunning foxes,
Swiftly cut the ropes of sinew,


Swiftly the Coyote freed him.
But the Sun Man in his anger,
Lightning flashing, thunder-throwing,

Loosed the frost and fanged the famine,
Thorned the bushes,
pinched the berries,
Put the bitter in the buckeye,
Rocked the
mountains to their summits,
Flung the hills into the valleys,
Sank
the lakes and shoaled the rivers,
Poured the fresh sea in the salt sea,

Stamped his foot here in the forest,
Where the water burst from under

Heel that raised him into heaven--
Angry with the world forever

Rose the Sun Man into heaven.
{Shaman}
_(Solemnly.)_
I am the Shaman. I know what has gone

before and what will come after. I have passed
down through the
gateway of death and talked
with the dead. My eyes have looked
upon the
unseen things. My ears have heard the
unspoken words.
And now I shall tell you of
the Sun Man in the days to come.
_(Shaman stiffens suddenly with hideous
facial distortions, with
inturned eye-balls
and loosened jaw. He waves his arms
about,
writhes and twists in torment, as
if in epilepsy.)_
_(The Women break into a wailing, inarticulate
chant, swaying their
bodies to the
accent. The men join them somewhat
reluctantly, all
save Red Cloud, who
betrays vexation, and War Chief, who
betrays
truculence.)_
_(Shaman, leading the rising frenzy, with
convulsive shiverings and
tremblings tears
of his skin garments so that he is quite
naked save
for a girdle of eagle-claws
about his thighs. His long black hair
flies
about his face. With an abruptness
that is startling, he ceases all
movement
and stands erect, rigid. This is greeted
with a low
moaning that slowly dies
away.)_
CHANT OF PROPHECY

{Shaman}
The Sun never grows cold.
The Sun Man is like the Sun.

His anger never grows cold.
The Sun Man will return.
The Sun
Man will come back from the Sun.
{People}
The Sun Man will return.
The Sun Man will come back
from the Sun.
{Shaman}
There is a sign.
As the water burst forth when he rose
into the sky,
So will the water cease to flow when he returns from the
sky. The Sun Man is mighty.
In his eyes is blue fire.
In his hands he
bears the thunder.
The lightnings are in his hair.
{People}
In his hands he bears the thunder.
The lightnings are in
his hair.
{Shaman}
There is a sign.
The Sun Man is white.
His skin is
white like the sun.
His hair is bright like the sunlight.'
His eyes are
blue like the sky.
{People}
There is a sign.
The Sun Man is white.
{Shaman}
The Sun Man is mighty.
He is the enemy of the
Nishinam.
He will destroy the Nishinam.
{People}
He is the enemy of the Nishinam.
He will destroy the
Nishinam.
{Shaman}
There is a sign.
The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his
hand.
{People}
There is a sign.
The Sun Man will bear the thunder in his
hand.
{Shaman}
In the day the Sun Man comes
The water from the spring
will no longer flow.
And in that day he will destroy the Nishinam.

With the thunder will he destroy the Nishinam.
The Nishinam will be

like last year's grasses.
The Nishinam will be like the smoke of last
year's campfires. The